The Quality of Discernment in Islam

4/14/2017 12:00:00 AM
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Readers: 234 |

All praise belongs to Allah. O Allah, grant Your peace and blessings upon Muhammad and upon his family, companions, followers and supporters.

Discernment generally means the ability to judge people and things well. Discernment in the perspective of Islam is more than just a skill. Discernment is a gift from Allah- the Almighty - deserves to increase thanks, and one can become better in it through training and experience. It helps the Muslim to think about signs and graces of Allah. Thus, the more the Muslim r4eflects on the signs of Allah, the more his reverence for Him increases .

According to Sunnah, Abu Sa'id reported that Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) sat on the pulpit and said:

"Allah gave a choice to His servant that he may opt the beauties of the world or that which is with Him and the servant chose that which was with Him. Thereupon Abu Bakr wept and he wept bitterly and said: Let our fathers and our mothers be taken as ransom for you. It was Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) who had been given the choice and Abu Bakr knew it better than us…etc" (Sahih Muslim)

Ibn al-Jawzi said: "This hadeeth indicates that Abu Bakr discerned that It was Allah's Messenger who had been given the choice"